Experimenting with materials, mixing up the expected elements of an object and straying from the norm are all hallmarks of an adventurous designer. Victor Matic, a Croatian design student, displays all of these with his unique chair made of wood and cardboard elements and held together with humble zip ties.


Known as Zipfred, the chair is designed to come in a kit that is assembled by the end user. Rather than the standard metal fasteners that accompany most flat-pack DIY furniture, the pieces are joined by plastic cable ties – the kind you use to hold bunches of cords together at the office.

According to the designer, the finished chair is predictably wobbly – but it also contains a fair amount of individual character. What’s more is that the kit could be further personalized using nothing more than differently-colored zip ties.

Continue reading below
Our Featured Videos

The ideal customer for a low-cost product like this, says Matic, is a student – or perhaps a family with young kids. The logic of this demographic is clear: using easily-replaceable lightweight elements makes for a product that can be used until it no longer performs optimally, then disassembled and either repaired with new parts or simply disposed of. Once college is over and a permanent job is found, or once the kids grow up and move out, the “temporary” furniture can be replaced with sustainable, long-lasting pieces.